Caviar-like edible capsules find application as man-made salmon eggs, jellies, etc. in the food industry.
For example, Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho S55-148072 describes man-made fish eggs simulating salmon eggs, which comprise edible particles each consisting of a core (A) and a shell (B) wherein the core (A) is composed of either a sol or a gel and the shell (B) is composed of a gel with a water content of 85-95%. According to the specification, the artificial fish eggs resemble natural salmon eggs in the sound they produce when chewed.
Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho S56-32974 discloses a man-made fish roe available upon gelation with a physiologically acceptable metal ion and treatment with a smoking liquor of ungelled artificial eggs each consisting of an edible sol shell comprising a water-soluble salt of alginic acid (A) and pectin (B) in a weight ratio of about 0.2 to about 3, which is gelable with said metal ion, and an internal edible sol core entrapped in said shell and substantially ungelable with said metal ion. This artificial fish-egg product is softer than the conventional product but has a tough, dense shell layer, thus closely resembling natural salmon eggs in mouth-feel or palatability, and water content.
Technologies for the production of man-made salmon eggs are further described in Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho S55-102373 and S55-114273 as well.
In addition, Japanese Patent Publication S48-16183 describes a method of producing a fluid-containing stable capsule which comprises contacting a mixture of a capsule core-constituting fluid and a polyvalent metal salt with a salt of alginic acid or a low-methoxylated pectin, or a mixture thereof, to thereby form a gel-like shell. The product capsule is said to find application as a jelly food, an additive to ice cream, a pharmaceutical capsule, or a nutrient capsule.
Edible capsules are essentially required to contain vegetable oil and/or other oleaginous substances in large quantities.
However, when it is attempted to entrap a large amount of an oleaginous substance in the capsule core, the integrity of the capsule as such cannot be maintained and the resulting limitation on the entrappable amount of the oleaginous substance has been a major obstacle to application of such capsules in the food industry.